Apparatus for moistening leather stock.



No. 740,388T

PATENTED OCT. 6, 1903.

4 R. W. BLAISDELL.V APPARATUS FOR MOISTENING LEATHER STOCK.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 22. woz.: Y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

N0 MODEL.

Tm: mums' Psrcns cov. P

Unire Ares Fatented October 6, 190,3.

Aram FICE ROBERT W. BLAISDELL, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO HEZEKIAH O. WOODBURY, BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS.

.APPARATUS FOOR MOISTENING LATHER STOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,388, dated October 6, 1903;

Application tiled September 22, 1902. Serial No. 124.307. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ROBERT W. BLAISDELL Va citizen of the United States, and a resident of Beverly, in the county of Essex andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Moistening Leather Stock, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in xo apparatus for moistening or, as it is usually termed, tempering leather stock-such as,

for instance, sole-leather blanks before thev outer soles are died out therefrom; and the object of this my invention is to prevent Water stains being made on the soles during the soaking operation, which ordinarily is carried out by submerging a tied-up bundle of soles in water, and in such a method the individual soles are held in close contact with zo each other, the water is prevented from wetting the soles evenly, and thereby leaving dry spots, causing what are usually termed water stains, which defaoe and injure the appearance of the under side of the shoez5 soles.

In my improved device the soles are placed in vertical positions side by side, so as to cause the sides of the soles to be evenly wet- Y ted, thus preventing the appearance of water 3o stains, as above mentioned.

The invention is carried out as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved moistening apparatus. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, showing it in position Within a water-containing trough or receptacle. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the `line 3 3, shownin Fig.- 2; and Fig. 4 is a 4o cross-section on the lin`e et 4, also shown in Fig. 2. Y

Similar letters refer to similar parts' wherever they occur on' the different parts of the drawings.

Theapparatns consists of a pair of preferably rectangular upper and lower skeleton frames, as will hereinafter be described. The upper frame is composed of sides A A and ends A' A', secured together in any suitable 5o manner. The lower frame is similarly composed of sides B B and ends B' B, as shown in the drawings. The said skeleton frames are hinged together at C and provided with asuitable locking device D opposite to said hinged portion, as sh'own in the drawings. 55 The ends oi' the lower frame are connected near their under sides by means of longitudinal rest-bars EE E, two or Amore, as shown,

Vand the latter serve as supports for the solehlanks F F F during the tempering opera- 6o tion, as will hereinafter be described. The ends of the upper frame are similarly connected at or near their upper portions with longitudinal retaining-bars G Gr, two or more, as shown, and the latter serve to prevent the sole-blanks from rising out of the water when the apparatus is placed or submerged in the water-containing tank H. (Shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4c.) f 4 For the purpose of holding the sole-blanks 7o F F in upright positions within the skeleton frames in case the latter should not be completely filled with sole-blanks I make use of -a lateral adjustable spacer-bar I, and I provide the lower edges of the upper frame sides A A'with notches orV recesses a e, and in a like manner make corresponding notches or recesses b b on the upper edges of the lower side frames B B, as shown, and said notches or recesses serve as guides in which to place 8o the spacerbar I, according to the number of sole-blanks that are placed inthe apparatus.

In using the device I lirst swing the upper .frame A A upward on its hinges, after which I place the sole-blanks F Fsidey by side upon the rest-barsV E E in such a manner as to al- 'loW free access of water between them when submerged. I then put the spacer-bar I `in position, as shown in Figs. 2 and, so as yto hold the sole-blanks in vertical positions in 9o case the frames should not beentirely A'lled with such sole-blanks. The upper framefis then swung to closed position and locked,as above described, after which the said frames and the sole-blanks contained therein are submerged in the Water contained in the tank. H, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and allowed to remain therein a short time, (about four or ve minutes,) after Whichthe frames', with their sole-blanks, are lifted out of the waterroc tank and placed in a suitable place, so as to allow the surplus water to drain od from the blanks, after which they are in a proper condition to be died out to the desired size and shape, according to the size of the boot or shoe sole that is being made.

It will thus be seen that in this my irnproved apparatus the sole-blanks are held in upright positions during the tempering operation and in such a manner as to permit all parts of t-he sole-blanks to be equally soalged or wetted, thus preventing the formation of water stains, as hereinabove described.

What I wish .to secure by Letters Patent and claim is- 1. Theherein-describedleather-lnoistcning device including a pair ot' cooperating skeleton frames, sole-supporting means carried by one of said frames, and sole-retaining means carried by the other frame and adapted to bear against the upper sides of said soles.

2. The herein-describedleather-meistening device consisting, in. combination, of a pair of superposed hinged skeleton frames open at top and bottom, a series of longitudinallyarranged supporting and retaining bars carried by the respective frames, the lower bars being adapted to support the soles and the upper bars to bear against the upper sides thereof, and an adjustable spacer-bar in the frame.

3. Theherein-describedleathermoistening device including a pair of superposed hinged ton frames, a plurality of bars arranged in parallelism and uniting opposite parts of one of the frames, and a plurality of bars mounted in the'corresponding parts of the other frame and also arranged in parallelism, one of said series of bars constituting sole-supporting means and the other constituting soleretaining means adapted to bear against the upper sides of the soles.

In testimony whereof I have afxed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT W. BLAISDELL. WVitnesses:

ALBAN ANDRN, HEZEKIAH O. WOODBURY. 

